introduction to toward a culture of creativity: a personal perspective on logo’s early years and...

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Introduction to Toward a Culture of Creativity: A Personal Perspective on Logo’s Early Years and Ongoing Potential by Wallace Feurzeig Richard Noss Published online: 5 December 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Someone once said ‘‘He (sic) who ignores history is condemned to repeat it’’. Looking at the history of technology-enhanced learning, it does seem as if there is more than a grain of truth in this aphorism—it sometimes seems as if each new wave of technological advance is treated rather as if it is the first, and that nothing much has been learned by the extensive research and development in the field that has taken place over the last half-century. Part of that history is technological, part pedagogical and part—perhaps a neglected part—personal. In this new paper, Wally Feurzeig discusses his seminal role in the design and implementation of Logo, surely the most important, broadly researched, influential and widely misunderstood pieces of software in the historical record. Wally outlines his role in the project, and points to some of the debates and discussions that gave birth to the ‘final’ product—which is, of course, still being enhanced and reborn in various guises today. Although this paper is not a research paper in the accepted sense, it adds to our understanding of how research takes place, and how packaged ideas and artefacts contain the traces of the contested terrain on which they were developed. And, as the reader will see, many—perhaps most—of that terrain is as contested now as it was 40 years ago. This is the introduction to the article 10.1007/s10758-010-9168-4. R. Noss (&) Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL, UK e-mail: [email protected] 123 Int J Comput Math Learning (2010) 15:255 DOI 10.1007/s10758-010-9170-x

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Page 1: Introduction to Toward a Culture of Creativity: A Personal Perspective on Logo’s Early Years and Ongoing Potential by Wallace Feurzeig

Introduction to Toward a Culture of Creativity:A Personal Perspective on Logo’s Early Yearsand Ongoing Potential by Wallace Feurzeig

Richard Noss

Published online: 5 December 2010� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Someone once said ‘‘He (sic) who ignores history is condemned to repeat it’’. Looking at

the history of technology-enhanced learning, it does seem as if there is more than a grain of

truth in this aphorism—it sometimes seems as if each new wave of technological advance

is treated rather as if it is the first, and that nothing much has been learned by the extensive

research and development in the field that has taken place over the last half-century.

Part of that history is technological, part pedagogical and part—perhaps a neglected

part—personal. In this new paper, Wally Feurzeig discusses his seminal role in the design

and implementation of Logo, surely the most important, broadly researched, influential and

widely misunderstood pieces of software in the historical record. Wally outlines his role in

the project, and points to some of the debates and discussions that gave birth to the ‘final’

product—which is, of course, still being enhanced and reborn in various guises today.

Although this paper is not a research paper in the accepted sense, it adds to our

understanding of how research takes place, and how packaged ideas and artefacts contain

the traces of the contested terrain on which they were developed. And, as the reader will

see, many—perhaps most—of that terrain is as contested now as it was 40 years ago.

This is the introduction to the article 10.1007/s10758-010-9168-4.

R. Noss (&)Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL, UKe-mail: [email protected]

123

Int J Comput Math Learning (2010) 15:255DOI 10.1007/s10758-010-9170-x